


Old Earth Traditions

by round_robin



Series: Holodeck Adventures [2]
Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Birthday, Birthday Sex, Chocolate, F/M, Germany, Hot Chocolate, Inspired by Real Events, Oral Sex, PWP, Real Location, so much chocolate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-08
Updated: 2016-04-08
Packaged: 2018-06-01 02:55:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6498025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/round_robin/pseuds/round_robin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“What was it you said last year?” Deanna mused. “Something about birthday sex being an old Earth tradition?”</p><p>Will smiled and ran his lips up and down the inside of her thigh. “Oh yes, one of our most important traditions.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Old Earth Traditions

**Author's Note:**

> When I was in college, I studied abroad in Germany for a semester. I was in Berlin and one of my teachers told us about this restaurant in Potsdam: La Maison du Chocolat. She said they served the best hot chocolate in Berlin. Sufficed to say, she was correct. It was the best hot chocolate, as in: melted chocolate in a cup. Sounds weird, is actually the single best experience I've ever had eating food. Naturally, with Deanna's love of chocolate, how could I not write a story about a holodeck trip to La Maison du Chocolat?
> 
> This fic was going to be 50/50 chocolate and birthday sex. It ended up about 70/30 chocolate to birthday sex, but I don't think that's a bad thing. And I tagged for "inspired by real events" because I basically wrote about my trip to Potsdam that day. (Except I didn't have sex with Riker afterwards. I FUCKING WISH.)
> 
> If you find a typo, please include it with your comment and it'll be caught and shot. Enjoy!

Deanna woke to the smell of chocolate. It wasn’t an unpleasant way to begin one’s morning.

She opened her eyes to see Will Riker holding a tray, wearing a dressing gown. Of all things. “Good, you’re up.” He settled down on the end of the bed and placed the tray over her lap, then leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Happy birthday, Deanna.”

“Thank you. But what’s all this? I thought we were just going to have lunch.”

“Old Earth tradition: the birthday girl always gets breakfast in bed.”

“Somehow I don’t think that’s true.” She sat up anyway, ready to survey this feast.

Will pointed out each item. “Chocolate chip pancakes, French toast with chocolate syrup, chocolate milk, and hot chocolate.”

Her eyes went wide. “I thought the replicator couldn’t make pancakes!” It was a strange glitch, one of only a few still left in modern replicators. Pancakes were made from the same batter as waffles, and the formula for waffles was usually programmed in first, causing a conflict in the computer. Order a waffle, get a waffle. Order a pancake, get a waffle. Some ships reprogrammed their replicators with pancakes first, and couldn’t get waffles. It was a hotly debated contest among Terrans, even to this day.

“It can’t. I can.”

“How?” She mumbled around a mouthful of pancakes. “There are no kitchens on board.” Yes, it was rude to talk with one’s mouth full, but it was her birthday and she had chocolate chip pancakes. She wasn’t waiting to eat them.

Will’s eyes sparkled and he reclined back on her bed. “Why should I give away my secrets?”

She nudged him with her foot. “Because it’s my birthday.” If Deanna knew one thing about Will Riker (and she knew several) it was that he couldn’t refuse a beautiful woman. If she knew another thing, it was that he loved birthdays more than anyone. He’d tell her.

Taking one more second to smirk at his hidden knowledge, he rolled over and started rubbing the offending foot. “Guinan keeps a small kitchen in the back of Ten Forward for all the items the replicators can’t make. She let me use it to make pancakes for you.”

“Well, I appreciate it.”

“Good.” He leaned down and kissed her foot, then stood up. “Finish your breakfast and get dressed. We have a birthday surprise to get to.”

Deanna stopped eating. “I thought this was the surprise?” Breakfast in bed, it was a pretty damn good as far as birthdays went.

He shook his head. “Oh no, you’re not getting off that easily. There is more to come.”

Deanna looked him up and down. She pointed her chocolatey fork at him accusingly. “You know how I feel about your surprises: keep them small and simple.” Deanna wasn’t overly fond of surprises. Some said it was a betazoid trait (her mother being the exception, of course) but most telepathic species weren’t used to being caught unaware and mistrusted Terrans for their love of taking other’s off guard. Will knew this, and he ignored it.

“And you know I know what you like.” He leaned over the bed again and kissed her cheek. “Trust me, you’ll love it. Now we both have the day off, can’t we enjoy it together?”

She sighed. “Alright.”

“Good! I’ll be back soon, enjoy your breakfast.” Dressing gown swishing around his calves, Will left her quarters.

Deanna sighed again, resigning herself to whatever Will had planned. He was very good at birthdays and usually it was great fun. She didn’t know why she was standing in her own way. She dug back into the pancakes and let the chocolate solve all her problems.

Twenty minutes later, Deanna emerged from the bathroom to find an outfit laid out on her bed. A quick look into the front room and she saw Will standing with his back to her door. Always respectful, that one. But why did he pick out her clothing? It wasn’t anything special, just one of her dresses. Knowing he always had a reason, she put it on and walked into the living room.

“I’m ready,” she said. “Take me to this surprise.”

“As you wish.” He offered her his crooked arm.

They made their way through the corridors. Deanna didn’t ask where they were going, she knew he wouldn’t tell her. They were stopped at a starbase, so there was no planet to visit, but she had no clues beyond that. Besides, she was more interested in what he was wearing. Black shoes with a curved strip and strange little dots on the toes, a pair of grey slacks with a matching jacket, and—strangest of all—a shirt with a long row of buttons down the front. The old kind, sewn on with thread. Where did he even find that outfit?

He was immaculate, of course, and Riker always knew how to wear clothes like he belonged in them, but she couldn’t place the costume. By now, she knew they were on the way to the holodeck, and Will did enjoy dressing the part for some programs. What part could this possibly be?

Stopping outside holodeck two, he let go of her arm long enough to tap at the computer panel.

_ Program: Riker Birthday loaded. Enter when ready _ , the computer said.

The small glimmer of hope that it might be a standard program—walking through Paris, a picnic in some park, hell even the carnival program—disappeared. In true Riker fashion, Will made a completely new program with a very specific goal in mind. No matter how much she guessed, she could never figure out what waited behind that door until she went through it.

She shook her head. “Alright, let’s get this over with.”

“I’m not taking you to an execution! Trust me, you’ll like this.” He took her arm again and pat her hand. “I promise, if you don’t enjoy yourself today, I’ll...” he paused and thought for a moment. “Well, I was going to say I’d never surprise you again, but that’s a lie.”

“If I don’t have fun today, I get to pick what we do on your birthday.” There, that seemed fair.

“Deal.” Oh, that was a little too quick... “Let’s get started.”

The holodeck doors opened and they stepped out into a bright cobbled street. People moved around them, talking and laughing, some eating food as they walked, shopping bags slung over their arms. An old car rounded the corner. A very old car, the wheels were rubber and a small trail of exhaust told her it was still using fossil fuel. She’d read about that, gasoline, it was called. Sunlight filtered down through the trees lining the street and the cool early autumn breeze swirled around them.

“Where are we?” She recognized the Earth, yes, but she couldn’t place the year. All the old, nearly ancient things—gasoline powered cars, shoes with laces, buttons, cobblestones—she’d only seen pictures of streets like this.

Will smirked and squeezed her hand. “We are in the Dutch Quarter of Potsdam, just outside of Berlin, Germany. It is 2009.”

“Two-thousand—” her eyes devoured every inch of the simulation around her. Things she’d only seen in her father’s old books when she was a child walked around her. It was somehow different than when Data went to Victorian England, or the Captain’s Dixon Hill programs. The early twenty-first century, there was so little left, most considered it impossible to recreate it on a holodeck. “Will, how did you manage this?”

“I’ll tell you after we get to where we’re going. Come on, it’s this way.”

He led her through the cobbled streets, past colored lights everyone seemed to understand. Deanna was too busy looking around, taking in the once lost images, she didn’t notice where they’d stopped until Will caught her attention.

“Here we are.”

She looked up. They were stopped in front of a brick building. The curly gold letters on the front read  _ La Mason du Chocolate _ . Deanna licked her lips. “What a wonderful name.”

“It gets even better. Shall we go in?”

Will opened the door and Deanna nearly floated inside. The cafe was dark and cozy, spindly little tables and chairs were dotted around the main dining room and the smell of chocolate absolutely filled the air.

A waiter appeared and led them to a table. Before he could even offer them menus, Will said, “Zwei heisse schokolade, bitte.” The waiter nodded and walked away to put their order in. “That’s the only German I know,” he said.

Deanna shook her head. As impressed as she was with this program, her curiosity got the better of her. “Not that I don’t appreciate being taken to the house of chocolate, but why are we here? I already had hot chocolate with my breakfast.” Though she was never one to turn down chocolate, this seemed a little excessive.

Will’s eyes sparkled. He kissed the back of Deanna’s hand. “Trust me, this is different.”

“I’ll say. How are we even here? Most of the information on Earth’s early twenty-first century has been lost. There’s never enough to make a full holodeck simulation, especially one as detailed as this.” And boy, was this detailed. She ran her fingers across the crackled glaze pattern on the tabletop and felt the cracks. She could see the individual tassels hanging from the curtains. How was this possible? Will was very determined when he set his mind to it, but even he couldn’t create miracles.

He smiled that all-knowing smile of his. It was infuriating. “As soon as our hot chocolate arrives, I’ll tell you every detail of my amazing plan.”

Normally, she’d call him out on his pride. But knowing Will, he probably put a lot of thought and effort into this. “Alright. I’m holding you to that.”

Their waiter reappeared with a tray in hand. He set two cups down on the table and two small dishes of whipped cream. “Guten essen."

Deanna studied the small cup in front of her. It was about the size of a daintier teacup and filled with a brown, almost liquid. She leaned down and sniffed at it. A familiar aroma filled her senses, and she felt the heat on her face. A cup of near-molten chocolate sat in front of her. Her mouth watered at the thought of it.

Will sat across from her, smirking like the cat who got the canary. He held a spoon out to her. “Go ahead, taste. I want to watch the look on your face.”

She tried to play it cool. He had her, they both knew it. Taking her to a place called “the house of chocolate” was the best thing he could ever do for her birthday. Whether Deanna liked surprises or not, he’d won this round. But she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of her reaction, not right away at least.

Taking the spoon, she dipped it in the chocolate and watched the warm liquid coat the silver metal. “It’ll probably taste like a melted chocolate bar, right?” Yes, it probably would. It was a good idea and she was looking forward to it, but really, it wasn’t going to be some sort of world-shattering experience. Will didn’t say anything, he just kept smiling at her, his eyes tracing her every movement. She brought the spoon to her lips.

Thick, sumptuous chocolate rolled across her tongue the way nothing had before. It flowed thickly, not like ice cream or a milkshake, it was something different all together. The intense chocolate flavor—the purest she’d ever tasted—filled every nook and cranny of her mouth on its way past her lips and to her stomach. Her free hand gripped tight to the table and she moaned.

“Oh, my God.” She took another spoonful. “Oh my God!” Warm chocolate clung to her lips and she licked it away as she went for another.

A low chuckle rolled from Will’s chest. Deanna didn’t care. He could have his satisfaction, she’d give it to him with both hands. All she cared about now was the cup in front of her and whether or not it was bottomless.

After a few more spoonfuls, she slowed a little. “Alright,” she said. “You promised to tell me how you managed this simulation.” There, that would keep his smugness somewhat in check while Deanna enjoyed the best chocolate she’d ever had.

“A deal is a deal.” He reached out and took her free hand in his, his thumb lazily stroking over the backs of her fingers as he spoke. “I wanted to arrange something really special for you. I started researching and couldn’t find anything that sounded right. Then, about two months ago, I was in Ten Forward and Sara—the engineer from Berlin—” Deanna nodded and dipped her chocolate covered spoon in the whipped cream, “was showing Geordi some old photos her mother sent her. They were photos of Sara’s ancestors in front of this restaurant.  _ La Maison du Chocolat _ . I saw the name and it all clicked together. I knew I had to take you here.”

“But how are we here?” Deanna’s curiosity got the better of her and she (reluctantly) put her spoon down. “There are almost no records from the early 21st century. Everything that wasn’t wiped out in the wars was lost to the digital dark zone.” Even a betazoid knew about Earth’s digital dark age. Their planet experienced a similar fate: after a period of amazing technological advancement, all the new information couldn’t be properly converted as storage methods changed so quickly. The knowledge remained, but photographs, music, anything saved digitally, was erased or lost as some technology became obsolete. On Earth, fifty years of war destroyed everything that managed to survive.

“How does a holodeck create an image?” Will said. “It gathers image files and digital data to compose the program.”

“Yes. And there are no images from this year!” From this decade, really. Most of the information was gone, lost to EM pulses and nuclear detonations. The chaos of the early two thousands was felt to this day.

“Not every year.” That smug look was back. “Remember what year I told you this was? Two-thousand nine. It was the twentieth anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. It was a huge year in Berlin, for all of Germany, really. An estimated four million extra tourists visited that year. And they didn’t all come with digital devices. The late ‘aughts were just on the edge of the first major digital conversion. Think about it: four million people taking photographs—real film photographs.”

Deanna’s eyes went wide. “Millions of boxes in millions of attics.”

“Exactly. This is the most photographed country of 2009. Even today, Earth historians know what they know about the early twenty-first century from this year. It’s an island of history in a sea of lost memories.” Will took the first sip of his hot chocolate.

Deanna looked around again, taking everything in. The thick damask curtains with their tassels, the white shell pattern cups, it was all so perfect. “How long did this take you?” Most holodeck programs assembled themselves, but she had a feeling this one didn’t. How long had Will spent combing through the bowels of some database, searching for the perfect images of this lost place?

“Oh, only about a week or two. On and off.” He took her hand and kissed it, his eyes focused so intensely on her. “I wanted it to be something you’d never forget.”

“You’ve definitely managed that.” Will was a good man, Deanna saw that the first time they met. And she knew he’d move mountains for the people he loved. She just never thought it was actually possible.

They finished their chocolate slowly, Deanna watching the people around them, and Riker watching Deanna. When she reached the bottom of her cup he slid his over to her. “No, you should finish it. It’s delicious and I don’t want you to miss out.”

Will shook his head. “I had a few bites. Besides, watching you enjoy it is much better.” He nudged the cup again and she relented. As she finished the smooth, creamy chocolate, Will’s eyes never left her face.

Two cups of chocolate and a dollop of whipped cream later and Deanna was full. “Oh dear. I don’t think I can eat another bite.”

“Then we can head out.” He stood up and extended a hand to her. “Do you want to leave, or see some more? There’s a canal nearby.”

A walk sounded nice. Deanna took his hand and let him wind her arm around his. They walked out of the restaurant and through the bustling streets. A flock of irritable swans filled the canal and two flapped at them angrily. When they didn’t react, the birds left them alone, off to bother some students sitting on the other bank.

They walked until Deanna didn’t feel as full. “Hard to believe chocolate can be so filling,” she said.

“Are you ready to head back?”

“Yes.” Deanna knew Will had one more birthday “surprise” for her. He always did. She’d resigned herself by now, especially knowing how much thought and work he’d put into today, and all of it for her.

“Computer, exit!” The holodeck door opened up in front of them and they walked into the corridor. “Computer, save program: Riker Birthday.”

_ Program saved. _

Her arms still wrapped around his, they returned to Deanna’s quarters. Will said nothing until the doors closed behind them. “I have one last thing for you.”

“Of course you do.” She called it. “Well, what is it?”

He simply smiled and took her hand, pulling her into the bedroom. He sat her down on the edge of the bed and stepped back. Wide shoulders rolled lazily, shrugging off the suit jacket. He caught it in his hands without a single look and Deanna shook her head. If she had to compare Will to one animal, it would be a peacock: proud, showy, and bright. Bright like his eyes, damn those eyes. The moment she first saw them, she was lost.

Long fingers traveled down the row of buttons and the shirt joined the jacket. He draped them carefully over the back of a chair and kneeled down. Those same fingers began removing her shoes and massaging her legs as they went up. Well, this surprise she sort of expected.

“What was it you said last year?” she mused. “Something about birthday sex being an old Earth tradition?”

Will smiled into her skin as he ran his lips up and down the inside of her thigh. “Oh yes, one of our most important traditions.” God, that man could sell ice to penguins.

He pressed kisses up and down her legs, from the bottoms of her feet up to where her thighs met her groin. Expecting this surprise, she leaned back on the bed and opened her legs, giving Will room to perform one of his many talents.

Rough fingers snaked up under her dress and pulled at her underwear. She lifted her hips to let them slide off. She was officially finished doing work. It was her birthday, after all. He discarded them over his shoulder and leaned in close, his hot breath against her skin.

The first lick was a welcome surprise. Will was the master of the slow burn and she expected to wait at least five more minutes before he got to where he was going. With his thumbs massaging her lips, she moaned. And he hadn’t even started yet. He licked again, running his tongue from her slit all the way up to the top of her clit, then circling around. Deanna shivered and moaned.

She draped her legs over his shoulders and tangled her fingers in Will’s hair. She loved ruining the smooth line of it, but this time she was holding on for dear life. Just in the nick of time too. As soon as she shifted, he moved as well. Those talented fingers pressed inside her, gently at first, then faster. His tongue circled her clit and his fingers thrust forward. Faster, harder, Deanna was shaking. She was squeezing him too tight, she was sure of it, but she couldn’t stop. Teetering on the edge, her breath came in deep gasps.

“Almost... almost...”

Deanna fell over the edge and moaned, her hips bucking as she came. She closed her eyes and shouted, pleasure rolling through her in wave after wave.

With her legs wrapped over his shoulders and her thighs squeezing his head, Will rode it out like a champion. He continued licking and touching until she couldn’t take it anymore and pushed him away with her foot. He grabbed her hips and helped her inch up on the bed to a more comfortable position before tending to himself. He walked into the bathroom to clean up, leaving Deanna sprawled out on the bed, counting the stars dancing around her ceiling.

The bed dipped and strong arms pulled her close. Cold, wet lips kissed her cheek. “Happy birthday, Deanna.”

Happy birthday, indeed.

  
The End

**Author's Note:**

> Lots of notes!
> 
> 1\. I'm only in season 6 of TNG, and so far, they heavily imply that the 21st century was some crazy dark ages, backwards land. I took a bit of a liberty saying most of the data from that era was lost, but it was so the holodeck simulation was that much more impressive.  
> 2\. I was in Berlin in 2009, and that was the stat they kept telling us: four million extra tourists just for the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Wall. If there was one place in 2009 that had the most cameras and photos being taken, it was Berlin. All that extra information would give the holodeck a nice clear picture.  
> 3\. I didn't explain it very well, but digital conversion failure is a real risk. Some experts think we'll eventually lose digital information from the 21st century because we won't be able to convert everything fast enough to the newest storage. Think about DVDs and BluRay. Everyone just finished converting their VHS collection to DVD, then suddenly BluRay is the thing and we have to convert again. If we keep having to convert and convert again, stuff is going to get lost.  
> 4\. When I was in Potsdam, me and my friends actually did get accosted by swans in the canal. Swans are evil.  
> 5\. My German is horrible. I can still read it, but ask me to write it and I'm practically illiterate. Just putting that out there.  
> 6\. Riker is wearing wing tipped shoes. I was trying to give the most ridiculous description possible.  
> 7\. I'm not the best at writing Het (are we still calling it that?) sex scenes, because everything seems, at best cheesy, at worst vulgar. I tried my best.


End file.
